A Not-So-Tragic Love Story
by sorakazuma
Summary: Byakuran was raised the heir to the mafia, but he never really wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. Upon a fateful meeting one morning he decides that maybe following his heart is a better idea then living in the shadow of his family.


A Not-So-Tragic Love Story

Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

10051: Byakuran x Shoichi

_This was based off a piece of fanart, by request! -Sora_

"Byakuran-Sama! Byakuran-Sama!"

The nagging tone of the older woman standing in his doorway belting his name made the boy want to do anything but get up. He flopped on his side, putting his back to her and hid his face under the pillows. "Five more minutes…." He muttered sleepily.

The response he got was a blast of cold air as the covers were pulled away from him and thrown clean off the bed. "Honestly! I've been dealing with you since you were an infant! You would think a nineteen year old man would be able to get dressed in the morning without the help of his nanny!"

Purple eyes snapped open and he shivered. "Fine, you old hag!" He puffed up, dragging his naked form from the covers. "If you want to make yourself useful how about you see to it she gets out of her okay?" He gestured to the girl half-asleep in his bed as he skulked to the bathroom.

Obviously the maid hadn't realized she was there, because about the time the door swung shut behind him a resounding shriek filled the air and he couldn't help but laugh.

By the time he came back out of the bath, ivory hair sticking to his face and neck, his mistress was gone, the bed had been made over with fresh sheets and if by magic nothing looked out of place. The maid was still there.

"Master Kikyo is downstairs waiting for you…he's offered to give you a ride to the office." She told him as he strode in in nothing but a towel.

"That won't be necessary Abigail." He told her, not even bothering to look over at her. "Now if you could kindly _get the hell out_ so I could get dressed, that would be wonderful." He replied with his cat-like smile.

The door slammed behind her and he discarded the towel to the floor, just as easily forgotten. He started throwing clothes on, taking the time to admire himself in the mirror. His fingers stroked over the purple ink cut under his left eye. It was just a whimsical zigzag of asymmetrical lines but he had had to keep from grinning when his father had seen it. Apparently tattoos were taboo in this day and age.

He buttoned up the teal dress-shirt, redoing the small clasps on the cuffs. He had been born into the underworld, a child growing up in the darkness. On the outside he was a prettyboy billionaire but on the inside he was the heir to one of the most lethal gangs on the globe, and if that wasn't enough he had the mind of mad scientist; he was so smart that his brain often led him down the most curious and cruel paths just to find some sort of self-satisfaction.

But being perfect had its own flaws. His family tried to keep him on a tight leash, and the more he pulled away the thicker and shorter the reins became. His father wanted him to believe he was letting him live his own life, but Byakuran was too smart for that, and knew too much. He was meant to be a figurehead, a puppet, and that was just not the boy's way of doing things.

He slipped on his white suit jacket and adjusted his long black tie. He was probably already late for his daddy's corporate meeting, not that he cared. Throwing on his dress sneakers he bolted out of the room, taking the stairs two at a time.

Kikyo was waiting in the lobby with the young man's crimson duffel bag. He had heard the staff mutter about how unprofessional that stupid thing was and yet for Byakuran it was a trophy from his schooldays, when life had been so much easier.

"I thought I told that lousy head maid that a ride won't be necessary." He smiled bitterly at his tall friend.

Kikyo pushed back his long teal hair, trying his best to look attentive. "I told her otherwise. Come on, the car's warmed up."

"No offense man, but you look like shit." Byakuran laughed, taking his bag from him. "We partied too hard last night, huh?"

Kikyo offered him a bitter smile. "Maybe so." He sighed, his broad shoulders slumping. "Forgive me sir, I didn't-"

"You know better." Byakuran cut him off. "It's cool bro."

"How will you get to work?" Kikyo asked, an eyebrow raising. "Do you plan on driving?"

"I plan on taking the bus." Byakuran grinned. "You know… like normal people." He backed away from hm. "Go back to sleep. I'll see you in a few hours. You can come pick me up and we can do lunch."

"Thank you sir. Sounds good." His friend replied with a sweeping bow.

Byakuran dashed off the property as if he had wings, laughing all the way. Kikyo understood his position within the household, and he knew if he pushed the man would let Byakuran have his way... Kikyo was rather smitten with him after all.

The closest public bus station was only a couple blocks down the road, and the schedule was pretty easy to follow. He saw a couple of high school students on the other side of the road heading up the street together, laughing and giggling and he wanted to just abandon everything in that moment and go join them. He was still young enough he could pass for a senior. What a life that would be to relive again.

The bus stop was at the edge of the high-rise housing where a grove of trees separated the billionaires from the working middle class. It was peaceful and quiet and secure, but for Byakuran this had once been the edge of his world. How narrow-minded he had been then.

There only one other person at the station waiting, another high-school student by the colors of his maroon and gold blazer. Byakuran couldn't help but notice how tiny he was, for a high-school student. The boy barely came up to his chest, his lean arms folded insecurely around him as he clutched his school bag to him… an impressive looking leather case, and nowhere near as flamboyant and childish as Byakuran's bright red duffel. He had head phones in and his foot was tapping along to the music. He thought he caught a wisp of an electric guitar as he got closer, still admiring the young man in the school jacket.

That was about the time the boy noticed he was approaching. He turned his head, vibrant green eyes looking up over the thin lenses of his glasses with an intensely honest and shy expression. His copper hair swung in his face, shadowing his boyish face and he looked about as timid as a socially-untrained puppy.

Byakuran felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he stared, unable to take his eyes off him. His first reaction was to put his arms around him and pull him close, to cuddle him like the goddamn adorable creature that he was. His heart skipped a beat. Never had he gotten a reaction out of a first meeting like this.

It was only another second and then the boy started turning red too. His cheeks flooded as crimson as his hair and he swallowed. "S-Sorry!" He chirped out, his light voice airy like a bird's. He went to turn away and lost the hold on his briefcase completely out of nerves. It slipped down his chest and hit the ground, the brass clasp bouncing open and spilling its contents all over the sidewalk.

For a minute the redhead stood frozen at what had just happened and then he stooped over, kneeling so he could gather his things.

Byakuran looked over the books for a minute, before he heard the familiar creak of breaks and noticed the bus at the end of the block, about to turn down their street. He came closer and helped pick up the pencils and erasers, folding the notebook back correctly and stacking it on top of the textbooks.

"T-Thank you, so much…" The boy breathed out, his green eyes dancing behind his glasses, unable to make contact with his saviors face.

"You're welcome," Byakuran smiled, his personality kicking into high gear and pouring on the charm. "Juliet."

The boy's head came up, emerald hues staring questioningly at him. It was obvious he didn't understand why he was calling him a girl's name but Byakuran just smiled sweetly at him and got back to his feet, brushing off his ivory pants.

The bus pulled up beside them and wordlessly the two climbed on, complete strangers despite that fateful meeting. The boy scampered up the steps, ducking into an empty seat and Byakuran walked right past him, continuing to the back of the bus where he grabbed a hold of the steel rail and tried to push the whole thing out of mind. He found it wasn't that easy. His violet eyes kept tabs on the young man, watching as he got off the bus some three stops down at the St. Varelia Academy. Byakuran noticed the uniform looked familiar, but he hadn't even put two and two together until he saw the building. He had friends who went there.

He eventually got to his father's conglomerate building, threw his bag in his office, flirted with a couple of the female secretaries, made a playful pass at one of the handsome men who was part of his father's 'Family' then finally settled in to listening to his daily lecturing from his boss, hot cup of coffee in hand.

After actually hearing maybe a quarter of what his father had said, he went back to his office, surfed over the internet for a couple hours and then had Kikyo pick him up for lunch. They made plans to go out that night, Byakuran came back to the office, actually did some work and then left before the sun was even fully down.

Kikyo was there to meet him at the front door. Byakuran got into the car silently, mulling over his thoughts. Most would kill for his life, but he didn't want this one. He was drowning in this corporate office, in this suit and tie. He wanted to be free to live his own life, before his recklessness got him killed.

The next morning was a repeat of the one before; Abigail was there to wake him up and kick out his lover from the previous night, he was pushing off a minor hangover in the shower and dreading another day of his father's berating.

The only thing he found himself looking forward to at all was the walk to the bus stop.

"I don't need you to drive me today," He told Kikyo as he skipped down the stairs.

"Are you sure?" His friend batted his teal eyes at him. "I heard your father-"

"Is going to stop me from _walking_? It's exercise. It's for my own good." He smiled at him. "See you later~ And tell Zakuro I said hi, won't you? I know he came home with you!"

He heard Kikyo call after him but he didn't even bother to stop to catch what he was saying.

The boy was waiting at the bus stop, as were a few other people, two of which were also St. Varelia students. The pair of girls eyed him up as he approached, whispering back and forth in hushed tones. He could no doubt guess what they were saying.

The young man seemed to be off in his own little world, so much so that he didn't notice him. Never liking to be ignored, even if it was unintentionally, Byakuran stepped closer, leaning in over his shoulder.

"Hey, Juliet."

The boy jumped and nearly dropped his briefcase again. Byakuran saw it coming and caught the thing by the handle, watching him fidget.

"T-Thanks…" The redhead smiled shyly, his green eyes dancing nervously. "Ah, good morning." He swallowed. "I… that's not my name, you know."

Byakuran smiled. "I kind of figured."

"It took me a while to figure out why you had called me that. Then I got to my 'History of English Literature' class yesterday and realized that you had picked up "Works of Shakespeare" when I dropped it." The boy told him and his vibrant green hues finally stared up at him spot on. "What I don't get is…. why Juliet? There are tons more interesting characters within the comedies and tragedies of that book. Why her?"

The platinum blonde had to resist the urge to grin like a mad man. Oh the kid was smart and cute as hell, and openly curious. His presence was becoming contagious.

That was conveniently the time that the bus got there and Byakuran found himself exempt from having to answer. He stepped on, frowning when he realized that the bus was overly crowded today.

"There's no seats left…" He heard the boy behind him and turned, watching him shuffle down the walk toward him, stuck between several other businessmen and the girls who looked like they wanted to use the cramped opportunity to their advantage.

"Come here." Byakuran reached out and grabbed the boy's hand in the mass of bodies, pulling him forward. "Don't drop your books." The redhead gasped but went easily enough, listening obediently. Byakuran pulled him in front of him, clasping the boy's hand against the steel side rail. "Stay up against me, and don't let go."

"T-Thank you." The boy said breathlessly, down-casting his head.

He really was small and lean, nothing like Byakuran's tall muscular frame. He couldn't help but to observe the two of them together in the reflection of the glass window and had to turn his face away. They looked good together. Every bump in the road, every sudden stop, or shuffle of people he had to stop himself from reaching out and grabbing the boy, of wrapping an arm around him to steady him. He didn't want to come off as some sort of stalker, but he couldn't help but feel like that's exactly what he was doing.

All too soon it came to the boy's stop and he had to step back and let him go.

"Have a good day." Byakuran said casually, trying to detach himself from the situation.

"I… I'll try." The boy nodded. "Thank you." And with that he was gone.

Byakuran tried to focus on the rest of his day, to go on like he had but inside, something had snapped. He didn't want this life, and he didn't know how, but he wanted out of it.

When he walked into his boss's office later that afternoon for his usual lecture, he had already prepared himself.

"What do you have to say for yourself this time?" His father glared at him. "You were three hours late this morning AGAIN. The servants told me you didn't come in until four AM, AGAIN. And then you bring home a MAN? I thought we had talked-"

"No." Byakuran stuffed his hands in the pockets of his pants. "YOU had talked about this. And I was forced to listen. My lifestyle should mean nothing to you."

"It does when you are ruining the reputation of MY company!" His father bellowed, not about to be so put-off.

His son wasn't about to be finished either. "Who I sleep with is MY business." He glared back. "And that's besides the point. I'm sick of living YOUR life. I don't want to be here, in this place, any longer. I quit." He wished he had a camera at that moment because his father's jaw dropped open. "I'm taking MY money, that I earned, and I'm moving out. I want to go back to school and finish my Master's degree, and maybe a secondary one while I'm at it, and I want to do it AWAY from you." He smiled, shrugged his shoulders. "I'm thinking America. Or back to Italy. Maybe Spain. The point is, I'm going to do something FOR ME." And at that he turned, letting himself out of the office, and slamming the door shut.

He grabbed his reliable duffel, and headed out of the office. He blended in with the people on the street and got back on the bus. He wanted to be invisible, to be solely normal.

He found himself standing outside St. Varelia, watching all the kids walk down towards the buses that branched off into different routes. He spotted the boy as soon as he came out of the gates, walking alone with his head down and shoulders slumped. Maybe he had had a rough day at school. Maybe he was picked on. Either way the thought tugged at Byakuran's heart.

"Hey Juliet," He called, taking his hands out of his coat pockets.

Several girls looked between themselves trying to find out who the lucky one was. None of them seemed to notice that it was the boy who had perked up, his emerald eyes wide. He slowly came over toward him, his cheeks flushing. "W-What are you doing here?"

Byakuran smiled. It didn't seem to matter how much was on his mind. As soon as he was with the little young man his thoughts drifted to something else entirely. "…Are you hungry?" He asked after a long moment. "We could do a late lunch. Or early dinner. Whatever you prefer."

The boy's eyes batted and he clutched at his schoolbag. "Uh… I-I shouldn't…" He stammered out. "You're really nice and all… but I don't even know you…"

"I'm Byakuran." He said, his smile faltering. "Gesso Byakuran. I'm nineteen, happen to be a Scorpio, am of Italian lineage…" His shoulders slumped. This wasn't some fangirl or celebrity model who was going to be impressed by the fact that he was rich as hell. Such flirtatious tactics weren't going to work and he knew it. "And I've had one hell of a day." His hands fell back into the pockets of his coat and he leaned his tall frame back against the wall, trying not to let the sting of the boy's words sink in.

"…The reason I called you Juliet was because of all the love stories Shakespeare ever wrote 'Romeo & Juliet' was the most insignificant, stupid lack-luster story I've ever read." He told him, watching the boy's green eyes go wide. "It was about two stupid kids who got caught up in feelings they didn't know how to control and decided they wanted to give their all for someone they barely even knew. They went out as tragic heroes of love and I never got that concept at all…. It made me want to laugh. Love is something foreign to me, something I feel like I've lacked until now. … And then there was you, standing on a street corner, and for some reason you moved me. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but something about you caught me, and instantaneously I understood. It's stupid but I wanted to know more about you. I wanted to be your Romeo."

The boy listened with a slack-jaw expression, his face slowly turning the same color as his hair. He glanced away and downcast his head. He seemed to recede into himself and Byakuran got the feeling he was about get utterly rejected for the first time in his life.

"….S-Shoichi." The response was so soft that Byakuran had to strain to hear it.

"Shoichi?" He blinked, taken back by the one word response.

The boy lifted his head, green eyes swimming behind his glasses. "My name." He breathed out, looking like he would die of embarrassment right there on the spot. "Irie Shoichi. I'm fourteen. And a Sagittarius. Japanese for as far back as I can remember. I love books and computers and music." He rambled out, his hands curling in his bag. "And I… I've had a hell of a day too." He smiled. "So I think I will take you up on your offer, Gesso-san, i-If you don't mind paying."

"I've got you." Byakuran beamed. "Thank you, Sho-chan, for giving me the chance. So, what do you like to eat? I like sweets!"

"Sweets?" Shoichi stared up at him, blushing at the nickname. "Y-You don't eat them too often, right? They can rot your teeth!"

The pair got on the bus, trying to sort out where they wanted dinner. It was an awkward friendship, still forming around the seams, but Byakuran had a good feeling that the more they came to know about each other, the less this would turn out like a tragic love story after all.

END


End file.
